NEWCASTLE UNITED appear to be stuck deciding whether to expand their stadium or build a completely new one.
This has been no secret for a while. The have wanted to bring their stadium in line with the best in the country and St James’ Park is certainly ageing.
But now, according to The Times, they have two firm plans at the ready, they just have to decide which one.
Newcastle’s capacity at has gone up by 600 seats and the club has spent £10m on upgrading the stadium this summer.
Those upgrades include installing three new big screens, but the club has been strategically looking at what’s next for the Magpies’ home for a while.
New plans have now been drawn up for a brand-new ground that would hold 65,000 just behind the Leazes End, but the cost of that would be £1.5bn.
Newcastle’s Saudi owners want the club to fund a third of that, which would involve a dilution of their holding and the need for a cash injection of £400m-£500m from new investors.
It’s not clear whether the Reuben brothers, who hold a 15 per cent stake in the club, would make that up or if they would seek a new investor entirely.
The alternative, now called “a wholly redeveloped St James’ Park”, would cost about a third of a new stadium at £500m and boost the capacity from 52,700 to about 60,000.
A decision has still to be made, but the club has bought plots of land around the stadium to give them options.
Chief executive David Hopkinson said last month: “We’re going to need partners to help us think through that, whether that’s design, construction, financing.”
Newcastle bought land next to the famous Gallowgate End for £12.5m and they also purchased a substantial majority of the historic listed Leazes Terrace, adjacent to St James’, for £25m in May.
This gives them the options to either develop St James’ Park or construct a brand new stadium with so much land.
The club are also investing in a brand new training ground to the tune of £190m which is meant to be ready for the 2029-30 season.
And they’ve spent about £25m just keeping their current base, Benton, up to standards.
But in a world where are staring into the abyss and awaiting the, the Toon have had to be extra careful about how they build their empire.
In the process, they have realised the long-term success they hoped to start seeing around 2030 may now require some extra patience.
And thus, whatever they decide next with the future of St James’ Park could play a central role in that vision.
